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Zheng Zixin

I felt his heated gaze searing into the side of my face, urging me to look at him once more. He was my enemy; he was Wuzhen's enemy. I couldn't love a beast like him. I shouldn't.

"Why have you brought him here?" Hirayama Sosuke questioned. His voice sounded airy and dry, like he hadn't had a drop of water in days. For the creator of Jintui, he was not well kept. That fact alone angered my dragon.

His sires are negligent, my dragon grumbled in my mind.

"Forgive me, Master. But would you rather stay here and rot until you join Meihui in the Heavenly Realm?" Tui asked. There was still a slight snap to her tone. Her impatience was oozing from her words.

"Azusa wouldn't let me die. Being alive is a mercy only she can grant and she'll continue to exploit it to cement her support in the Clans. I don't wish to be involved in the Emperor's business by cavorting with his son," he replied, pointing his snout at me. Any other day, my dragon would have been insulted by being referred to in such a manner, but in my mind, he was jumping for joy at our mate's recognition.

"He can see them, Sosuke," Jin commented. "He's the one we've been waiting for. Azusa was right. Even you can't deny it."

"What are you talking about? I'm the one for what?" I asked, my gaze flickering rapidly between the three kitsune before me.

"All the more reason for him not to be here," the blind fox muttered under his breath. "If he truly can see the Virtues, he should leave while he can," he added, his sightless eyes raked over mine. I couldn't help but wonder what I looked like in his mind's eye. Was he proud to have someone like me as his mate? Or perhaps he was ashamed, like me?

"Only individuals with a connection to your bloodline can see them, Sosuke. We were created by you, and in doing so, we were added to your bloodline. This dragon is different. If he can see them, that means he's your mate," Jin explained. His words made my dragon bristle defensively, knowing the secret I wanted to contain had no future of remaining hidden.

"M-mate? He can't be Taizi Zixin's mate. He's a fox!" Sun Fang exclaimed. "Interspecies relationships are forbidden, unless approved by the Emperor!"

"Having a mate changes nothing," Jin replied somberly, ignoring Sun Fang. "He's the one."

Tui marched up to my mate and shoved him roughly. "Stop moping around, Master. This dragon is your mate, whether or not you like it. He is the key to restoring us to the throne."

"I don't want the throne," Sosuke said, turning his back on all of us to retreat to his bed.

"What do you plan to do for the next century? Sit here and count each hair on your body every century? That isn't good enough for us. We deserve better, Master. You deserve better. You led Mutsushina to glory, had the Dark Court on their knees, ushered in a new age where people once feared the kitsune clans," Tui argued.

"I led Mutsushina to its downfall. If I hadn't colluded with the Dark Court, things would have been different. Azusa is what's right for our people. She doesn't act selfishly, she acts with all the clans in mind, something I could never do. The best thing the two of you can do is accept the consequences and move on. You don't have to be trapped in this place with me. I split the two of you so you could have a brighter future, not to waste away with a disgraced ruler."

"You're our Master. You can't expect us to abandon you here."

"I released you and your brother from the sire bond years ago, Tui. It's time you've left and see what the world has to offer. Find a home, find your mate, and be happy."

"Wait one moment. You brought me here because you plan to use me in this grand scheme to remove Azusa from the throne? That's not what it sounded like from her. Besides, why would I risk putting my country at war for someone I barely know?" I asked. My dragon snapped at me, not appreciating how I spoke of our mate. What he wanted and what I wanted were two completely different things.

"A technicality. I thought dragons liked war. Consider it a way to eliminate your enemies in Iniguthia," Tui said. "I heard you recently fought with the pixies. Wouldn't you like to put the fallen angels in their place as well? After all, it could nullify your wedding plans."

"Wedding plans?" Sosuke inquired. Was that a hint of betrayal I detected in his voice?

"She's no one, just an insufferable angel," the words poured out of my mouth. Why did I feel the need to reassure him? 'Damn, this confounded bond.' It was making me act sickeningly sympathetic. Did my words even hold any weight?

"You've only just found each other. You have plenty of time to discuss where your heart lies. Now is the time to decide whether you wish to help your beloved mate."

"What my sister means is there's something far more important than your bond right now. The Vices went against their word. They attacked you today to prevent you from meeting our Master," Jin interjected. "The only possible reason they'd do that is if they knew the two of you were mates."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. I just wiped out an entire pixie village. It would be strange if they didn't want my head for killing their young," I replied with a scoff.

"You killed children?" Sosuke asked. "What horrible sin did they commit for you to end their lives?"

"They were born," I answered coldly, not caring how evil he viewed me. A part of me wanted him to hate me. He wouldn't be disappointed if I never provided unrealistic expectations.

"They weren't here because of that, Zixin, though I hardly doubt your actions won't throw fuel on the fire," Jin said. "Our Master is a threat to the Dark Court. When our Master created us, everyone discovered his true potential and feared what it meant for the future. They bound his soul using the seven virtues because it was the only thing strong enough to keep the curse active. If he were to find his mate, and that mate was to accept him, the curse would be weakened."

"How could I possibly break a powerful curse involving the Virtues?"

"You're the key to finding the seven holy trumpets. Each trumpet, once blown, will release each angel from the curse, freeing our Master."

"And if I say no?"

"They'll keep coming for you. As long as you're alive, they won't stop until you're dead. The longer we postpone, the worse the situation becomes. While the Virtues are subdued, they'll use this time to help the Devil gain power. Every country will be in danger, not just Mutsushina, but Wuzhen too."

Anyone who sought Wuzhen as an enemy had to be dealt with. It was easy to say I'd walk away, but my dragon would never accept it, especially now that we'd found Sosuke. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I contemplated my options. Every end resulted in helping the kitsune for the sake of Wuzhen.

You can't just ignore our mate, Zixin. You know what he means to us. He can't live like this forever. Do you really want him to die here alone? My dragon asked.

I know, I replied. I hated it when the stupid dragon was right. Where was the bloodthirsty dragon when I needed him?

If you know, then you know we have to help him. Regardless of how you think, he is a part of us. If he dies, we will die with him to join him in the afterlife. Do you really want your life to end before it begins?

Shut up!

"Lord Zixin, if we could have a moment to discuss..." Sun Fang started.

"There's nothing to discuss. I will help you foxes, but one condition: I get to personally see to the destruction of the Dark Court." Shoving Sun Fang to the side, I made sure to look at Sosuke in the eyes even though he couldn't see me. "And once we've destroyed the Vices, we can go our separate ways."

"Aren't you concerned about what the Emperor will think?" Sosuke asked in a rather calm tone. His question made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. It felt as though he was trying to challenge my dragon. Although I viewed it as an insult for questioning my judgment, my dragon viewed it as some sort of sick foreplay. Horny bastard.

"Why would I care what that old man thinks? He's lived beyond his years. I don't need justification from him to do as I please."

"No, of course not." His sarcastic remark piqued my interest.

"What are we waiting for? It's about time the moths got squashed."

"We can't just waltz into Iniguthia without a plan. We have to figure out how to find the Vices all while minimizing the number of battles," Jin explained.

"If what you told me is accurate, we don't need to look for them. They'll come to us. We'll tear apart their kingdom, brick by brick, starting with the mastermind of today's attack."

"Old magic runs through their veins, Zixin. When you kill one, the rest grows stronger. The Dark Court knows this. Why do you think she doesn't place protective enchantments on her lands or her issues? She's practically asking you to attack head on!" Tui said.

"And there aren't only fallen angels you have to worry about, there are also pixies and demons. Your fire-breathing tactics won't exactly help us get what we need."

"You forget, a Celestial dragon's breath has purifying properties. It's more powerful than any iron we could acquire to singe the flies' wings."

"You aren't a full-blooded Celestial, Zixin. How do you propose to rectify the problem?"

"Through battle, of course. Let's rejoin Azusa. Perhaps she can give us another vision."

"That's not how that works."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Are you coming, Master?" she asked Sosuke.

He sighed and said, "I guess so."

A magical tether linked him to Tui, like a leash, so she could guide him through the labyrinth with ease. He followed her like a broken dog, with his head hanging low, his eyes staring blankly ahead, resigned to his fate. I hated seeing him give into his fate. Where was his fighting spirit? Was one defeat going to be enough to dismantle the great Hirayama Sosuke?

As if he felt my gaze on him, he turned his head towards me and I looked away immediately. 'What am I looking away for? It's not like he can see me,' I thought, chastising myself.

Once we made it out of the labyrinth, an unexpected guest waited for us. It was a woman dressed in a gown of pastel red and black, the tulle hemline of the dress flowing around her bottom half as her black wings fluttered. The heart-shaped bodice of the dress glittered, drawing my attention to the stones of onyx sewn into the fabric.

Her crimson hair had sharp angles to it, styled into an a-line bob that complimented her striking cheekbones. The fierceness of her violet gaze pierced our souls as she observed us with an amused smirk. Power radiated from her, and although she carried the distinct fallen angel's scent of nightshade, I immediately recognized she wasn't like Ba'al Berith and Olivier. She was stronger. She knew she had the power to enforce her will upon us, but it only made my dragon awaken to ready us for the challenge. An aura surrounded her, demanding submission, but I refused to surrender. I would rather die than bend at the waist for scum like the Fallen.

Before I could ask who she was and what business she had with us, Sosuke's voice echoed in my mind, Shift now!

The transformation took root, just as a pair of swords appeared in her hands. My heart pounded in my ears, unsheathing the sword at my side and tossing the sheath to Sun Fang before the shift completed. "Hold on to that," I commanded, plunging my sword into the ground, in case it was needed later. My hands ached, wanting to tear apart the person who made an enemy and a fool out of me today.

I charged towards the enemy, but upon impact, neither side relented. Their blade pushed against my scales, but I pushed harder. We were evenly matched, which only made my anger grow. I expected a tougher fight, after all the showboating Olivier and Ba'al Berith did. Olivier was a struggle, so , how could she be easier to battle? 'What a disgrace,' I thought in annoyance. 'It appears these Vices are all bark, no bite.'

She fizzled into nothing, reappearing behind me to deliver a swift strike to my back. I let a knee fall to the ground as I grit my teeth. A hiss passed through my mouth as the cold air stung the open wound in my back. 'Toying with me, are you? No matter, soon it will be your blood staining the ground,' I thought, thinking myself a fool for believing her initial strength was all there was to her. Clearly, she was holding back, testing me.

"Help him," I heard Sosuke say, even though I wanted to shout back that it was unnecessary.

My dragon rumbled in my mind, Stand up. You can't let our mate think we're so weak, we can't handle an apparition.

It doesn't matter what he thinks because I won't be his mate, I countered.

If you reject your mate, you'll be preventing him from ever being whole. Are you really that cold-hearted to allow your mate to live out the rest of his life in solitude and incompleteness?

Dragons and kitsune do not mix. Review the laws of the realm.

Laws can always be changed, but you can't change what's in your heart.

"He needs to do this on his own, Master. If he wants to stand on equal ground with the final boss, he has to achieve the next level," Jin explained. "He would ask us for help if he didn't agree with me. Isn't that correct, Zixin?"

"Shut up," I said through clenched teeth. I leaned onto the hilt of my sword embedded in the ground to raise myself up to my feet, ignoring the burning pain on my back. It would heal soon enough. I swung my fist towards my opponent. She shapeshifted into my mother without warning, forcing me to stop mid-attack. Even if I disagreed with my parents, the one person who I could never raise my talons at was my beloved mother.

Beneath the crevice of the light above, her dark hair fanned out behind her. She waited for me, seeing what I would do next, but no matter what I willed my body to do, it refused to move. My feet were firmly planted to the ground and my body remained frozen under her loving gaze. 'Manipulative moth,' I cursed in my mind.

Upon closer inspection, my eyes locked onto the love swirling in her hazel eyes. It was a dead giveaway that the woman before me wasn't really my mother. I lost her love the day I left for the battlefield, or maybe I never had it to begin with and it was all a plan to keep me from ever suspecting they would send me away.

Before I could do anything else, a blast of ice threw me to the ground. I struggled to maintain my balance amidst my blurry vision, and I returned to my human form. The taste of iron filled my mouth, but I forced myself to swallow. I didn't want anyone else to discover a dragon's weakness. The touch of ice made my body convulse, working against the heat of my dragon's flame. If I tried to breathe fire now, only a few small embers would struggle to ignite.

The fallen angel leaned down and whispered what sounded like a prophecy in my ear, "The first trumpet will resound, releasing hail and fire to the realm, unleashing a great evil, with the wrath of Satanas at the helm."

A fireball whipped past my head, landing square in the fallen angel's face. I slowly raised my head to see Tui generating foxfire in the palms of her hands. It had no effect because Tui's foxfire had demonic properties, given she was a demon herself.

Pink smoke surrounded us, emanating from the golden pipe Jin always had in his hand. The fallen angel's head turned as though she saw and heard something that wasn't really there. Jin had persuasive magic, but he had to choose the target to succumb to his illusions.

"Taizi!" Sun Fang exclaimed.

"It won't hold her for long," Jin said, appearing by my side in an instant before teleporting me away from the enemy while Tui distracted her. "It should buy us time."

"For?" I asked.

A smile spread across his face and he said, "You're about to find out."

"Wash away their sins, Seiryū," Asari's voice reverberated. Her spear, with the power of the ocean, shot through the pink smoke, aiming for the fallen angel. To my astonishment, she caught it with her bare hands. Her skin burned upon contact, but she didn't care about the pungent odor of her burning flesh, for her skin was healing rapidly despite the holy energy.

"Shatter their sins, Raijū," Aimi's voice followed. Lightning crackled and exploded when it hit the fallen angel. Smoke filled the air, and we waited, watching the black clouds to dissipate to see if she would emerge unscathed.

When the smoke finally cleared, she stood in the same spot, completely unharmed. If two attacks from the Inari Defensive Forces did nothing to her, would any divine object hurt her?

"Pray for absolution, Byakko," an unfamiliar voice said from above.

Two wolves with stars and the night sky as their bodies rained down on the Fallen angel, causing her to stagger back. I glanced up and saw a three-tailed kitsune with dark blue and purple hair that reminded me of the twilight sky. She wore a kimono that had a print of a moon and white tiger on the back and stars on her sleeves.

A five-tailed kitsune appeared, restraining the fallen angel with a barbed whip. She wore all black, her grin wide with excitement. "Punish the unworthy, Harionna."

Beside her was another five-tailed kitsune, but male. His sword lit up with flames as he said, "Cleanse their souls, Suzaku."

A final seven-tailed kitsune appeared, wielding a sword as well. "Chill their blackened hearts, Genbu," her soft voice feeling like a soft caress.

From my brief interactions with them, I learned the Inari Defensive Forces were a specialized unit of kitsune from the three Clans: the Holy Fox Clan, which had nine-tailed foxes who accomplished cultivation; the Wicked Fox Clan, the clan of demonic fox spirits; and the Blossoming Fox Clan, which had kitsune training to become nine-tailed kitsune. Everyone could decide which clan they wanted to be promoted into, the Holy Fox Clan or Wicked Fox Clan.

Realizing she was outnumbered, Sathanas vanished.

Soon after, my body emitted an immense amount of heat as my fury about an unknown source drastically increased. This shift felt different from the others. I was losing control of my body as a darker force overwhelmed my senses. Hunched over on the ground, my slowly elongating talons dug into the ground. Pain was the only thing my mind could register.

Blood red scales rapidly replaced flesh. The sensations were equivalent to my skin being forcibly peeled. Guttural cries escaped my mouth. The torment was too much to bear in such a short period. Normally, dragons could heal as they shifted, but because the process happened quicker than usual, my body didn't have time to adjust its healing speed. All I could do was endure the pain and wait for it to subside.

"Jin!" Tui called out.

"I know, I can sense it," Jin responded in a surprisingly calm voice, forcing me to make a mental note to settle a score with him. The only reason he could be so calm was if he knew the reason behind my suffering, and/or he was the cause of it. 'The Jintui will not make a fool out of me,' I thought before the pain transformed into a sharp sensation, like knives digging into my raw skin.

"What's happening?" Sun Fang asked in a panic. "What have you done to my Taizi?"

"Restrain him," Sosuke ordered. Tui and Jin held me down, while Sosuke kept Sun Fang at bay.

"You dare lay a hand on the Crown Prince of Wuzhen?" Sun Fang said with a frustration I'd never heard from him. "Release him at once! I will take him back to Wuzhen."

"Then you'll doom all of Wuzhen and the rest of the realm, water dragon," Tui said, using all her strength to keep me in place. "He won't survive the trip to Wuzhen in his condition. He stays here. Or would you rather he unleash his anger on you and your people if we let you take him?"

Sun Fang shrunk back at her words, debating on whether to listen to her or continue to go against her wishes. "Taizi is no ordinary dragon. He can overcome this."

"No," Sosuke interjected. "It's true Zheng Zixin is more powerful than the average dragon, but no one can withstand the influence of a Sin.We have to purify the area before Sathanas passes through him, or else we could lose him forever."

Sun Fang stopped struggling, accepting Sosuke's explanation, but it didn't stop him from watching me with a pained expression. It went against his nature to watch me writhing in agony. The bond between the Imperial dragon bloodline and their subjects was too strong to break because it was no ordinary bond. It was a connection of servitude between a submissive and a dominant, servant and master.

He tore his gaze away from me, clenching his jaw. "Make it quick. I can't promise I can hold my dragon until the end. Do it now," Sun Fang said.

'Sathanas?' I thought, rethinking what Sosuke mentioned earlier. Was she really planning to take over my body? If it managed to do so, the only person who could stop me was Sosuke. Drowsiness rushed into me as my vision started fading. Who I would be when I awakened was a distant mystery.